Friend or foe? — Film exex want to tap into Jobs' savvy but worry about his growing clout — Five years ago, when Steve Jobs was in negotiations to sell songs on iTunes, he gave music execs a choice: Either work with me or get left in the dust. — They worked with him.

Yahoo Opens IM to Developers — Yahoo Messenger, with 60 million worldwide users, just got a lot more interesting. Today at 6pm PST Yahoo is launching Yahoo Messenger 8.0 for Windows PCs and releasing a software development kit to allow third parties to create content plugins that users can add to their Yahoo IM.

Yahoo Messenger gets plug-ins — Yahoo introduced on Monday a beta of its Yahoo Messenger with Voice chat application that includes free plug-ins designed to let people to do things like track eBay auctions, see friends' wish lists on Amazon.com, collaborate real-time on event planning and compare calendars with contacts.

Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie: chant of change at Microsoft — The appointment marks the emergence of a ferocious technology intellect, writes Richard Waters in San Francisco — MICROSOFT has a new brain. Ray Ozzie, a white-haired Chicago native with a courtly manner, is in many ways the anti-Bill Gates.

Office 2007 is the Bravest Upgrade Ever — Short and sweet, the Ribbon and new UI in Microsoft Office 2007 is the ballsiest new feature in the history of computer software. I've been using Office 12 for about six months, and not only has it made me more productive, I'm struck by the sheer ambition of the changes in this version.

USB Air Conditioned Shirt — When it comes to USB powered gadgets, this doesn't just take the cake, it takes the entire bakery and then burns it down for the insurance money. The USB shirt has two fans on the left and right sides of the back, taking in air to cleanse all the sweat off your spare tire.

Web Users Open the Gates — A decade after major news providers such as The Washington Post began publishing on the Internet, they are finally beginning to ask the right questions about what the Web can do for them and their readers — and to realize how disruptive web technology is to traditional journalism.

Perspective: Microsoft's forgotten monopoly — The story of how Microsoft used its monopoly in operating systems to acquire a dominant position in office applications and browsers has often been told. But there's another Microsoft monopoly that's rarely mentioned, even though most of us see it every day.

Battling the Copyright Monster — How does a filmmaker document the world around her when the sights and sounds that make up that world are copyright protected? — Law professors Keith Aoki, James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins co-wrote and produced the comic book Bound By Law? Tales From the Public Domain.

Verizon Sues Vonage in Patents Dispute — Vonage, the Internet telephone startup, said today that it was being sued by Verizon Communications in a dispute over the underlying technology that allows voice calls to be delivered over the Internet. — The lawsuit adds a new challenge for Vonage …

Live, Nude Black DS Lite! — Here it is, four days before it goes on sale, the black DS Lite. A retailer at a UK games store snuck this bad boy home, stripped it and took a buncha photos. Our own Florian will be line-standing for one of these black beauties to give one lucky contest winner.

The phone booth returns — sans phone — Just in time for his return to the silver screen, Superman's trusty phone booth is back. Only this time, there's a bit more room for his biceps. — Because the pay phone itself is gone, today's booths are BYOC — bring your own cellphone.

Net students 'think copying OK' — Students of the "Google generation" often do not understand what plagiarism is, says an expert on the issue. — Many of the new generation of students raised on the internet see nothing wrong with copying other people's work, says Professor Sally Brown.

Handhelds give blind insight — It's not quite the visor worn by Commander Geordi LaForge, a character on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but there are some interesting parallels to an assistive technology that is allowing blind users to "see" by sound. — The technology is part of a wave …

Why I'm Going to Work for Zooomr — Zooomr, experience the world through photos. — I love photography. More than anything else this is where I find my heart, mind, thoughts and time these days. When I was 15 years old my parents bought me my first 35mm camera. It was a Sigma and it rocked my world.

User-generated content vs. reader-created context — For an internal IDG newsletter I was asked to pick the industry buzzword that most annoys me and write a brief essay explaining why. I chose user-generated content and wrote the following: … It's not enough to merely be annoyed …